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Deniz Lokantası: Souperior Stock

When we picked up a cab from Meşhur Unkapanı İMÇ Pilavcısı recently, it turned out the driver had just been there for a refuel himself. Sensing a captive yet interested audience, he held forth all the way to Beyoğlu about where to eat well and cheaply – without stomachaches ensuing – in Istanbul. We’re always happy to discuss the finer points of kuru fasulye (stewed beans), but this driver seemed to have a particularly deep interest in the subject. After debating the merits of various canned brands (“Yurt” brand or nothing, in case you were interested), he dived into the subject of soup.

Our cabbie wanted us to know about Deniz Lokantası in Kasımpaşa, where no fewer than 15 soups are brought out after 6 p.m. every evening, a tradition that began when the restaurant wanted to offer something to drinkers looking for a hangover helper on their way home. In fact, Deniz Lokantası subtitles itself Çorba Dünyası (“Soup World”). As fans of the Turkish habit of making everything into “worlds” (in Istanbul there’s a “Coffee World,” “Adhesive Tape World” and even a “Circumcision Ceremony World”), how could we resist?

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